April Showers…

How happy are we for Spring?!!! Long, long over due. Buds are breaking, grass is growing, birds are chirping…I love this season except for my allergies. Cool season grasses are just waiting to be mowed regularly, over seeded and fertilized. The soil temperature is around 54 degrees at 2” deep at Page and Warson. It will have to stay there for the next 7-10 days to get much germination of seed or crabgrass. Don’t be in a hurry to put down your crabgrass control with Dimension until you have mowed at least twice! It’s more important that winter clutter has been removed before you apply the Dimension Here are this months main points:

COOL SEASON GRASS TIPS

*Mow down to about 2 ½ inches with a good sharp blade

*Rake or blow the yard first so when you do mow, you chop up or suck up the loose debris

*Apply your low nitrogen fertilizer with Dimension in the next couple of weeks (despite what you might hear on the radio or get from the fuzzy faced dude on TV)

*Spot treat early chick weed, henbit and dandelions as you see them! Read the label and understand what you are applying. The best defense against weeds isn’t chemicals…it’s thick grass!

*Raise your mower up to 3 ½ inches after the first two mowings and leave it the heck alone all summer long! Trust me, you will want to do this.

*Spot seed as needed, but only if you covered these areas with a towel or tarp before applying the crabgrass control. Save big seed jobs for September. Use sod along drives or bare areas in the spring.

*It’s never too late to test your soil, but definitely do so before applying fertilizers! (earthco.com for the best soil test kit in town and beyond)

*Don’t turn on your sprinkler system before May 1^st. Patience people, patience!

WARM SEASON GRASS TIPS

*Start planning, but you should be nothing much for the next couple of weeks

*You can mow down to 2 inches or so, but be careful at that height! Sewer and gas covers are easy to find at that height!

Come back next month for details on zoysia lawns. It just too early to get aggressive with these lawns yet.

I will hope the spring is kind to you all may we all complain about how hot it is soon!

Glenn Kraemer

MARCH LAWN CARE…MAYBE

March is coming in like a lion…let’s hope it goes out soon. Between wind, snow, sleet and colder then normal temperatures, I have had it.

Once spring does arrive, folks are going to be over zealous to apply their preemergent, spray their weed controls and spread grass seed. The bottom line is…NOTHING will happen until the soil temperatures get to where we need them to be. All the wishful thinking, prayers, fertilizer or pixie dust products out of the Parade Magazine won’t make the grass grow properly or consistently until God gives us 45-55 degree soil temperatures for 2 weeks, without a frost.

The message is: PATIENCE. Often spoken about in my home and business…rarely practiced as much as I would like it to be. So, do what I say, not what I do and you and your lawn will be fine. Once the ground warms and you can walk on it without causing foot prints that have water in them or you don’t hear the grass “crunching” underneath your feet, you can start working in the yard safely. Safely working, because you won’t be compacting the soil or causing dead spots in the lawn. That’s what happens when the ground is frozen and or saturated and we walk on it unnecessarily.

Once things warm up, you should do the following on your cool season and warm season lawns:

Cool season lawns:

*Rake or blow all of the leaf clutter that has accumulated over the winter. This helps your preemergent work more effectively!

*Mow at 2-2 ½ inches with a sharp blade. Bag if you can in order to help clean up the yard.

*Mow at least twice before you consider applying crab grass control.

*Mow at least once before putting down grass seed.

*Mow at least 2-3 times before applying Post emergent herbicides to Henbit, Clover etc. (remember to read the label!!!!)

*Second applications of Post emergent herbicides are usually the “One-two” punch stubborn weeds need to be killed!

Warm season lawns:

*Other then step one above…do nothing for another 45 days or so

Remember, zoysia is a “warm” season grass. It might feel warm to us, but until it’s growing…you should do almost nothing to these lawns!! Aprils letter will have details for warm season lawns you can follow. Please let me know if you have any questions or come visit us at our store @10747 Trenton Ave, St. Louis, 63132 (Warson & Page).

SPRING IS ON THE WAY…I PROMISE

Until the snow melts and the ground thaws, there isn’t whole lot we do in our yards or to our lawns. Unlike the last couple of years, there will not be much yard activity in February this year. We have been lucky that last couple of years with early springs, but not so much this time. You can do a lot of damage/compaction to the soil when it is saturated and or half frozen. The rule is to work the soil or walk in yard if you can see water around your foot print when you step in the yard. Sounds simple, but it’s impractical if you have get the dog or the newspaper…the point is, don’t over do it if the ground is saturated.

I’m told “patience is a virtue” and will have to practice what I preach this spring when it comes do doing yard work. I’m going to try to go on more walks with my wife and go hiking in more local parks this spring. TheMissouri Conservationist magazine had some great recommendations last fall for hikes in Missouri and I’m going to check some of those out. I went down to Hawn State Park (St Genevieve area) in December before it got real cold and went on a3 mile hike on the “Whispering Pines” trail and had a great time.

Now is a good time to check and replace your hand tools, get a diary/action plan started of activities in the yard, feed the birds and get ready for spring. About the earliest activity anyone should be doing is spraying dormat oil. This can be done safely once the temperatures are above 40-45 and will stay there for 1-2 hours. You want the spray to ‘dry” on the plant material, not “freeze” on the plant material.

Man, I want spring here in a hurry. I tell my kids all the time…”don’t be in a hurry to grow up”. It sounds so easy, doesn’t it? Practicing what we preach is not so.

Look for some exact lawn tips when Mother Nature allows!

Stay warm,

Glenn Kraemer

PS Note from MaryAnn- very fond of keeping a diary, and it can be a good winter read.  Along with that it is a good time to update any  changes made to your landscape design plans. 

 I love to create an inventory list of all foundation plant material.  My favorite winter project is to do this and then put it all on an excel file sheet and assign an activity week to assess whatever care is needed for that plant.

 You have to be flexible and know that its a guide only as every year is different but it helps me remember to check on that plant during that window of time.   It doesn't help with my case of spring fever which is building already with each day!

The Do’s and Don’ts of January Lawn Care

I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for spring. Reality tells me we are only half way through winter! There are some things that should or shouldn’t be doing with your lawn right now:

*Try to avoid walking on the lawn early in the morning when frost is present and or when you step in the grass and you can see water around your shoe print. Both of these situations can cause damage to the grass and compaction to the soil.

*Don’t worry about “tanned or burnt” looking grass. A short (2 “) mowing in the spring and few warm days will change the appearance quickly.

*Blow or rake leaves that are matted into the turf. This help the lawn thicken in the spring and allow the preemergent to work better too!

*Apply gypsum at 50# per 1000 ft. sq along edges that may be getting salt damage. Gypsum won’t change the pH of the soil, but will help nutrilize the sodium being added to the lawn edges.

*If it gets freaky warm for 4-5 days in a row and you want to mow the lawn…go ahead and do it. Mother Nature dictates our mow schedule, not Saturdays on the calendar. Make sure your lawn mower is ready before and stored properly after the mowing!!!

*Fertilizer applications are OK to do…as long the ground isn’t saturated. Only do this if you missed doing so in November/December.

*Don’t do anything to zoysia lawns (except remove leaves with a blower). Do Not mow or rake vigorously.

*Snow plow damage should be fixed after March 1^st. We still have too much winter left.

The Holidays where very nice for me and my family this past season. I will hope 2014 will bring all of you physical and spiritual health.

I am a regular blood and platelet donor…please consider giving this gift when you can. There is real need for our local hospitals to get some donations soon!!!

Happy New year all,

Glenn Kraemer

Happy late Thanksgiving and early Merry Christmas!

What a challenging and rewarding year 2013 has been. I will hope and pray that your year was one to remember as opposed to one that is that can’t be over soon enough. I like to focus on the positives so here are a few of my 2013 best thoughts:

*My son Ben graduated from Mizzou and was awarded a scholarship to attend Virginia Techs Graduate program in Turfgrass Science. (Thank God he got his mothers brains)

*My daughter continues to excel in Nursing at Rockhurst University. (Mother’s brains and looks…sorry Ben!)

*My wife Liz and I celebrated our 25^th wedding anniversary with a trip to New Orleans. (4 days is enough for me in that town)

*We were able to move our business into a larger location. (Page and Warson area. About 3 miles west of our old location)

*2 nieces and 1 nephews’ family are having babies in 2014.

One sad note was the passing of my Mother-in-law. I was there when she left. It was sad and a beautiful thing knowing she wasn’t in pain anymore. She will be missed, but never forgotten. She literally helped change my life.

2014 can be what you make of it. I’m going to try to get a little healthier physically and spiritually. I’m going to attend my first White House Retreat and will give the 20 Minutes to Fitness workout a try. (Thank you Kim and Alan for the push!).

Look for my once a year mailing in late February for suggestions on what to do with your lawn applications on 2014. Please send me questions or come on by and visit the new building. (we have bird seed this year to offer!) It probably won’t be very exciting, but I will make an effort to make it so!

Be safe this Holiday Season and I hope to see you all soon,

Glenn Kraemer

GR Robinson Seed & Service Co

November is Fertilizer Time!

To truly make your cool season lawn as healthy as possible for next summer, fall fertilization is very important. Next to keeping the leaves of all fall, fertilization with 100% (or as much as you can find) slow release nitrogen (U-flexx, U-Maxx, Nutralene, MESA or any organic source) is by far what I consider to be the best. At 1-2 pounds of nitrogen per 1000 ft. sq.

Try to either mow up the leaves or blow them off the grass before applying. It’s not the end of the world if you apply fertilizer over the leaves, but if you can the do the right thing and remove the leaves first, you should have better results. This application guarantees a nice fall green color and spring green up that won’t “blast” out of the soil. The nitrogen source is stored in the roots and eases out the ground. It also allows you to use little to no nitrogen in the spring. We’ll suggest using a 7-0-22 or even a 0-0-7 with dimension (crab grass preventer) next spring (March –April). Not a lot of nitrogen in either of those, but you won’t need it if you use the 100% slow release product the previous fall. It’s a “Program” not a one shot cures all approach.

Other things you can be doing this month:

*Keep mowing at 2 1/2 to 2 ¾ inches all fall

*Spot spray weeds if needed with “Ester” formula herbicides (they work very well in cool weather…read your labels for more information)

*Trap or poison moles if needed. They are really moving a lot right now and are easy to control. (Notice I didn’t say “get rid” of. All we can do is control what is there now, because more are coming not matter what we do. Kind of like “voles” as well. No such thing as total eradication, just temporary control)

*I’ll remind you to remove leaves every 2-4 days, one more time. It’s that important!

*Winterize your irrigation system.

*Plan on winterizing your lawn mower. I have a Honda which allows me to add fuel stabilizer, run it for a minute and then “shut off” the gas flow to the engine. Read your manual!

November is great month to plan your Holiday gift giving to those less fortunate. It only takes about 15 seconds to read the paper or go on line and see someone in need. I prefer to support local chapters of charities. My father-in-law always supported “Our Ladies Inn”. My wife volunteers there and has brought home some interesting stories. Between the USO and Our Ladies Inn, we have both found something that appreciates our time. I hope you can find that someday too.

Remember folks, it’s just grass!

Glenn

OCTOBER DO’S AND DON’TS FOR YOUR TURF and THE CARDINALS!

I’m tired of complaining about the lack of rain fall so I’ll tell you all how happy I am for the baseball Cardinals. Post season play is good for the city and the exposure it brings. I’m sure the DeWitt family is regretting their decision to host those football games right before the last week of the season? I hope no one on the grounds crew lost their job over a decision they had nothing to do with? So much for a “baseball only” venue! I’m sure Billy and Chad are up to the challenge. The does and don’ts for the Cardinals are pretty easy…Don’t schedule anything on the field that may ruin the career of a player or employee and DO win a championship!

Now for some really good stuff…

Warm season/Zoysia Do’s & Don’ts:

*Do keep watering until we get some substantial rain

*Do let it get a little “leggy” into the fall (2 ½ inches or so)

*Do keep the leaves removed even when it’s dormant

*Do make preventative fungicide applications now and in 30days and again April 15-30th. Do them all or none of them!

**Don’t apply any late season high nitrogen fertilizer. High POTASH is OK, but not high nitrogen (see cool season suggestions)

**Don’t aerate or power rake any more…it’s too late to benefit from these. Wait until May to consider doing this again

**Don’t pass up the opportunity to do a soil test. Fall is the best time to correct problems in the soil!

Cool season Do’s & Don’ts

*Do keep watering…especially if you have seeded in the past 30 days. We are dry despite being “above’ for the yearly average

*Do go ahead and aerate and seed still. The soil temperature is way up past normal. You can still get seed to grow, but time is running out to expect great results!

*Do plan on fertilizing with 1 pound if nitrogen per application 2 more times this year yet. 100% slow release nitrogen around Thanksgiving is still the best and most important application you should do!

*Do keep mowing at 3 ½ inches until November and then lower to 2 ½ inches for the final 2-3 cuts. It will green up more quickly next spring…maybe.

**Don’t let leaves accumulate for more then 3 days. New seedlings will have a hard time recovering after more then 3-4 days without sunlight!

**Don’t use a rake to remove leaves (unless you are very gentle), Have then blown or bagged up while mowing. If mulched, don’t return more then the ground can handle!

**Don’t skip fall fertilizations! The lawn will look good and you might think it’s unnecessary, but it is. Just do it!

**Don’t apply herbicides without reading the label! You could do more harm then good!

At the end of the day, our lawn is like our lives…the more we put into it, the better it is. I got to play golf with dad yesterday, my son turns 23 on Sunday and I’m going to Kansas City to have lunch with my daughter…it doesn’t get any better then that. I hope October brings some much needed moisture and what ever else you need in your life. Remember folks…it’s just grass!